Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove or NASJRB Willow Grove was a Naval Air Station owned by the U.S. Navy and located in Horsham Township,

Montgomery County Montgomery County may refer to: Australia * The former name of Montgomery Land District, Tasmania United Kingdom * The historic county of Montgomeryshire, Wales, also called County of Montgomery United States * Montgomery County, Alabama * Mon ...

, Pennsylvania, United States four miles (6 km) northwest of the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

of Willow Grove, which is north of Philadelphia. The installation was transferred to the Pennsylvania Air National Guard and the name changed to the Horsham Air Guard Station after the U.S. Navy departed in 2011.

History

Flight activity began in 1926 when Harold Frederick Pitcairn constructed a hangar and a grass airstrip in Horsham, Pennsylvania. The airfield was named after the nearest town Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. At the time, Horsham was a rural township with little significance. From 1926 to 1942 Pitcairn used the airfield for design, construction and testing of a number of aircraft, including the Mailwing which was used by the United States Postal Service.Jeremy Roebuck
Willow Grove sees final departures
Philly.com, March 31, 2011 After the start of World War II, the United States purchased the property, under threat of eminent domain and launched a classified anti-submarine warfare program at the base. Following WWII and into the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

, it became an operational and training base for aviation activities of the Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces such as United States Navy Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve,

Air Force Reserve The Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) is a MAJCOM, major command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, with its headquarters at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. It is the federal Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the U.S. Air Force, consisting of ...

Air National Guard The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the ter ...

, United States Army Reserve and Pennsylvania National Guard. As part of its joint recruitment efforts, the base was an annual host to one of the largest

air show An air show (or airshow, air fair, air tattoo) is a public event where aircraft are exhibited. They often include aerobatics demonstrations, without they are called "static air shows" with aircraft parked on the ground. The largest air show m ...

s on the East Coast until 2006.

Units

Horsham Air Guard Station was home to the following: *

111th Fighter Wing The 111th Attack Wing (111 ATKW) is a unit of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, headquartered at Biddle Air National Guard Base in Horsham, Pennsylvania. If activated to federal service, the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air C ...

(111 FW), Pennsylvania Air National Guard, which operated the A-10 Thunderbolt II. It lost its aircraft to other ANG Squadrons and active duty components under BRAC. As of 2013, the Wing, now renamed the 111th Attack Wing, was slated to acquire ground control stations to remotely fly the

MQ-9 Reaper The General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper (sometimes called Predator B) is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operations developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) primarily for the Unit ...

and became operational in 2016. * 201st RED HORSE Squadron, Detachment 1 (201 RHS), Pennsylvania Air National Guard * 270th Engineering Installation Squadron (270 EIS), Pennsylvania Air National Guard *Group 3 Headquarters of Pennsylvania Wing Civil Air Patrol. *902nd Search and Rescue Squadron of Pennsylvania Wing Civil Air Patrol. * The Liberty Bell Squadron of the United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps The base was home to the following military aviation units: * U.S. Army Reserve Units - A/4/158th Aviation Regiment flying UH-1H (GhostRiders), A & HHC/2/228th Avn flying UH-1H, OH-58, & C-12R (Winged Warriors). * Marine Aircraft Group 49 headquarters and HMH-772 of the Marine Air Reserve's

4th Marine Aircraft Wing The 4th Marine Aircraft Wing is the reserve airwing of the United States Marine Corps. It is headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana but its subordinate units are scattered throughout the United States. Mission Conduct air operations in support ...

, the latter operating the CH-53E Super Stallion. Both MAG-49 and HMH-772 relocated to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in 2011. Also Reserve Marine Attack Squadron VMA-131 flying McDonnell Douglas A4 aircraft from 1972 until their deactivation in 1998. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VMA-131 * Patrol Squadrons 64 (VP-64) and 66 (VP-66) of the United States Naval Reserve operating the P-3 Orion. VP-64 was later re-designated Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 64 (VR-64) and traded in its P-3 Orions for the C-130T Hercules *Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 11 ( VQ-11 "Bandits", established at Willow Grove, moved to NAS Brunswick, Maine in the middle of 1997 were establishment ceremony was held at). VQ-11 "Bandits" was formed from VP-66 Liberty Bell's Detachment.66 (called VQ-66 "Bandits") which received the Lockheed EP-3J Electronic Orion aircraft (BuNo 152745 & BuNo 152719) from VAQ-33 Firebirds on March of 1993. VQ-11 was the US Naval Air Reserve's only Reconnaissance Squadron, but preformed Electronic Aggressor roles during fleet exercises. * Fleet Logistic Support Squadrons 52 (VR-52) and 64 (VR-64) of the

Naval Air Reserve A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It include ...

, operating the C-9 Skytrain II and C-130T Hercules, respectively. Both VR-52 and VR-64 relocated to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in March 2011. * 913th Airlift Wing (913 AW) of the

Air Force Reserve Command The Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) is a major command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, with its headquarters at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. It is the federal Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the U.S. Air Force, consisting of commiss ...

. The 913 AW was inactivated by BRAC action on 30 September 2007.

Base Realignment and Closure

On May 28, 2005, the Base Realignment and Closure commission recommended that the base be closed as part of the 2005 BRAC round, that the tenant

airlift wing be inactivated and that Navy Reserve and Marine Corps Reserve flying units relocate to

McGuire Air Force Base McGuire AFB/McGuire, the common name of the McGuire unit of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, is a United States Air Force base in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States, approximately south-southeast of Trenton. McGuire is under the j ...

in New Jersey as tenant units. On September 30, 2007, the

disestablished the 913th Airlift Wing at the collocated Willow Grove ARS, and redistributed its

C-130 Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 ...

aircraft to other active duty Air Force and Air Force Reserve units. On February 29, 2008, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania released a report detailing a plan for a joint interagency installation (JII), with a mission of national defense, homeland security and emergency preparedness. On November 13, 2009, Pennsylvania dropped the plan for the JII based on the gradual removal of the 111th Fighter Wing. Since then it is planned that a portion of the base will be used for the National Guard and other Reserve Component military personnel. The airfield shut down on March 31, 2011; VP-64, VR-52, and a C-12 detachment were transferred to McGuire Air Force Base. On September 15, 2011, the base was closed. The Pennsylvania Air National Guard took custody, and the facility was to be designated Willow Grove Air National Guard Base, or Horsham Air Guard Station per source. A handful of National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers remained, and the Air Force maintained administrative offices on the property. The surplus land with the runways was turned over to Horsham Township for redevelopment. Horsham and other adjoining townships in Montgomery and Bucks Counties were debating the nature of this redevelopment. In September 2015, the Horsham Land Redevelopment Authority worked on an "economic development conveyance" (EDC) application to acquire the base. An EDC transfer is one way for the Navy to dispose of federal surplus property.

References

(9) Harold F. Pitcairn By Carl F. Gunther, Legacy of Wings ( The Harold F. Pitcairn Story) by Frank Kingston Smith

External links

Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove

* ttp://hlra.org/ Horsham Township Land Reuse Authority* {{PAMilitary Willow Grove Military facilities in Pennsylvania Military Superfund sites Installations of the United States Air National Guard 1928 establishments in Pennsylvania Buildings and structures in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania 2011 disestablishments in Pennsylvania Superfund sites in Pennsylvania Closed installations of the United States Navy Military installations closed in 2011